2011 Tomato List
I spent the afternoon yesterday seeding all of my tomatoes, peppers, basil, parsley, marigolds, and other herbs & flowers. I narrowed down my tomato list, leaving off a few that I’ve grown for the past 3 years and adding a few new ones to try. I’ll be happy when I have the new garden area finished and I can grow a lot more varieties of tomatoes just for fun and to see what they’re like.
Here’s the list of the tomatoes I’ll be growing this summer. I added images where I had them of each variety. One this I want to do this year is to take photos of the foliage and the tomatoes from each kind I’m growing. Hopefully I can do a post on each kind to give you a review.
Yellow Cherry – indeterminate, regular-leaf, vigorous and tall tomato plants that yield copious amounts of 3/4-inch, round, yellow cherry tomatoes that are loaded with delicious, fruity, sweet/tart flavors (source: Sand Hill Preservation)
Tess’s Land Race Currant – Deliciously flavored currant tomato that originated from Maryland’s southern shore. The tiny fruit of this variety vary in color; most are deep red but some are also rose, gold and yellow. The flavorful fruit are popular with chefs and home gardeners. The sprawling vines produce clusters of these intense tasting miniatures. (source: Baker Creek)
Lemon Boy – A popular hybrid tomato, particularly with commercial growers, known for its uniform, lemon-yellow colored fruit which generally grow to about eight ounces. Borne in clusters, the fruits are a treat to the eyes and have a nice mild, sweet, tomato flavor. The plants are vigorous and are resistant to several common tomato pests so they are quite easy to grow. The vines also tend to be quite productive. Maturity: 72-75 Days, Determinate (source: saved seed)
Brandywine Tomato – 80/100 days, indeterminate – It is by far one of the best known heirloom tomato varieties. There is a lot of lore surrounding the ‘Brandywine’ category of tomatoes. Reportedly it is an old Amish heirloom, dating back to 1885 and named after Brandywine Creek in Chester County, Pennsylvania. The disease tolerant, regular leaf plants yield fruits that are red, globe shaped, and full of flavor. (source: saved seed)
Silvery Fir Tree – Traditional Russian variety with distinctive carrotlike silvery-gray foliage on compact 24″ plants. Heavy crops of round, slightly flattened 3-3½” red fruits. Unique decorative variety that is a real eyecatcher. Does well in hanging baskets or on patios. Introduced by Seed Savers International in 1995. Determinate, 58 days from transplant. (source: Seed Savers)
Henderson’s Crimson Cushion – The Crimson Scarlet Brother of “Ponderosa” has huge size and delicious rich flesh. Said to be introduced in 1892 by Peter Henderson, the flesh is very thick and of great quality. This is probably the tomato that made red “Beefsteak” type tomatoes famous. (source: Baker Creek)
Cherokee Purple – Given to heirloom tomato collector Craig LeHoullier by J. D. Green of Tennessee, it is at least 100 years old and was reported as originally grown by the Cherokee Indians. The fruits are large (twelve to sixteen ounces), dark pink with darker purple shoulders. Excellent complex flavor, slight sweet aftertaste, perfect slicer for tomato sandwiches! Try this one for real old-time tomato flavor. Indeterminate, 80 days. (source: Baker Creek)
Winterkeeper – 10 oz. fruits, solid green until storage then turn a pale yellow outside and red inside. (source: Sand Hill Preservation)
Principe Borghese – The Italian heirloom that is famous for sun drying. Small 1-2 oz. grape-shaped fruit are very dry and have few seeds. They have a rich tomato taste that is wonderful for sauces. Determinate vines yield clusters of fruit in abundance, perfect for selling in fresh markets and making specialty products. Determinate, 70-75 days. (source: saved seed)
Goldman’s Italian American – Unique, beautiful and large tomatoes that have a squat, pear shape, being ribbed and pleated. These have a bloody, intense red color when ripe. Thick, red flesh is perfect for delicious sauces and preserves. Found at a Roadside stand in Italy, by Amy Goldman and named after her father’s grocery store in Brooklyn. This variety has good flavor, fresh or canned (source: saved seed)
San Marzano Tomato Lungo #2 – For canning, paste, and a killer spaghetti sauce, it’s hard to beat ‘San Marzano’, a sought-after heirloom from the Campania region of southern Italy. A highly prized Italian heirloom tomato for its fruit with firm pulp and thick skin, used in the concentrate industry as well as for canning ‘peeled’ tomatoes. This is truly the Italian standard for sauce and paste and a heavy producer. The fruit are long, often mistaken for large peppers from a distance. Fleshy with few seeds, often with ‘dry’ seed cavities, and with an authentic flavor that will take you back to Italy. A vigorous grower (we couldn’t believe the size of the harvests even in zone 5), vines start bearing later in the summer but then come on fast and furiously, producing heavy, 3½-inch-long tapered fruits in clusters of five or six. ‘San Marzano’ is low in sugar and acid, which gives it superior flavor when cooked. The vigorous plants are extremely prolific and produce until the first hard frost. Indeterminate, 80 days. (source: Baker Creek)
Rutger’s Tomato – Good for canning; also good fresh; large red 8-oz. globes. Good yields and flavor on large vines. A fine New Jersey heirloom. (source: Baker Creek)
Dr Carolyn – 65 days. (indeterminate) [Selected from a sport of ‘Galinas’. Named by Steve Draper in honor of Dr. Carolyn Male who first saved the seed.] The most flavorful yellow cherry tomato we have grown. It has an excellent balance of sugar, tartness and depth of flavor. The pale yellow, cherry-sized fruits are typically borne 6 to a cluster with fruits of uniform size measuring 1-1/4″ x 1-1/4″. The large vines are extremely vigorous, well branched, and provide excellent cover. (source: Southern Exposure)
I think I’m most interested to see the Silvery Fir Tree, I’ve heard they’re really beautiful plants. I first heard about them in the book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. I’m also excited to try the currant type tomatoes for the first time this year. It will be interesting to see how quickly they ripen since they’re so small. They might be a great option for early tomatoes each year. I’ll never go a year without growing the Lemon tomato as that’s Mr Chiot’s favorite and I’ll always grow Principe Borghese as it makes the most wonderful dried tomatoes that we enjoy all winter long!
Do you have a variety you’re excited about trying this year? Any old favorites you always grow?
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Saving Tomato Seeds
I’ve been saving tomato seeds for a few of my favorite varieties including: ‘Principe Borghese’, ‘White Beauty’, ‘Brandywine’ and ‘Goldman’s Italian American’ tomatoes. Saving tomato seeds is an easy process, if you have a favorite heirloom variety you should give it a try to preserve it.
The most important part is choosing a few of your best tomatoes. Obviously these tomatoes have had great germination and have good genes to pass on. Ideally you’d want to choose a few nice ones from different plants (of the same variety of course), but don’t worry if you only planted one plant, the seeds will still be OK. I only have on ‘Brandywine’ plant and I save seed from it every year.
All you need to do to save tomato seeds is to scoop out the seeds and gel and put them into a jar. Add some water and let them sit until a scum/mold forms on the top of the jar. This process ferments the seeds and helps remove them from the gel, I’m guessing it also helps kill bacteria and disease. All the seeds will sink to the bottom when they’re ready to rinse. Generally I let mine sit for a week or two.
You’ll want to skim off the scum/mold, then pour the contents of the jar into a colander and rinse them to get rid of all the gel and any scum. Next you’ll want to spread the seeds on a towel to dry (I prefer a cloth towel as I find the seeds don’t stick as much as they do on a paper towel). When they’re good and dry, put them in a small envelope and label, they’ll be ready to sprout next spring. Make sure you keep them labeled throughout the process as you don’t want to mix them up! Label the jar, label the towel you’re drying them on, and label the envelope, believe me you won’t remember – I know from experience!
Not only is saving your own seeds a great way to keep you favorite tomatoes around, but it’s also a great way to save some money on seeds and have some from trading with friends. You can also give them away to encourage others to garden and grow some of their own food. I’ll be giving away some of mine in a few weeks when I have them all saved.
Do you save your own tomato seeds?
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The First Brandywines of the Season
The tomato season is almost over and I’ve already taken out 80% of my plants. I have a few nice plants left and among them is my ‘Brandywine’ tomato. It doesn’t produce a ton of fruit, but they’re the quintessential tomato when it comes to flavor and type. The tomatoes are HUGE and the flavor is probably the best as far as classic tomato flavor goes, at least in my book.
There are a lot of varieties of ‘Brandywine’ tomatoes, these are from saved seeds from a tomato a friend gave me so I’m not sure what variety it is. I’ll be saving seeds for these for years to come. I’ll always grow at least one vine even though I only get 5-10 tomatoes from it, it’s worth the space for such delicious flavor.
Do you grow ‘Brandywine’ tomatoes? What tomato provides your favorite perfect tomato flavor?
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‘Goldman’s Italian American’ Tomato
This year I decided to grow ‘Goldman’s Italian American’ tomatoes in my garden after reading about them in The Heirloom Tomato: From Garden to Table: Recipes, Portraits, and History of the World’s Most Beautiful Fruit by Amy Goldman. Notice her last name and the name of the tomato – not a coincidence.
They’re described as: the famous Goldman’s Italian-American Tomato has ongoing production of large, red, voluptuous (large in the hip) pear shaped, paste tomatoes with exceptional flavor and few seeds. Individual tomatoes can reach one pound each. Makes one of the creamiest tomato sauces. Named by Amy Goldman for her father’s grocery store in Brooklyn after she found this at a roadside grocery store in Cernobbio, Italy.
They’re quite a lovely tomato, perhaps one of my new favorites. The vines aren’t as productive as hybrids, which is common for heirlooms, but they’re well worth the space. Most of mine have produced huge tomatoes and the sauce they make is velvety and smooth, with great tomato flavor. They’re quite beautiful as well, almost stunning. If you’ve never grown this variety I’d highly recommend giving it a try in your garden. I’ll be saving seeds from a few beautiful species of this plant and I’m hoping I’ll have some to share.
Did you discover any great new tomatoes this year? Is there a variety you grow each year without fail?
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Slow-Roasting Tomatoes
I don’t know that I’ve ever met a tomato recipe I haven’t liked, but there are some that I love more than others. One of my favorite ways to enjoy summer tomatoes is by slow-roasting them in the oven. You can throw these on pizza, on salads, eat them plain or my favorite, on top of some toast with an egg. When you slow roast tomatoes it deepens the flavor and concentrates the sugars. As a result you’re left with delicious jammy little puddles of tomato goodness, and making them couldn’t be simpler! This is even a great way to deal with so-so tomatoes that you buy from the store or the end of the season tomatoes that are ripened indoors and lack the sun-ripened flavor.
You can use any kind of tomato, from cherries to beefsteaks, just keep in mind that the larger the tomato the longer it will take to roast. Roma types that are dry roast quicker so check them earlier, but beefsteaks are more concentrated when roasted so they taste better. If you’re going to roast a batch, you may as well do an entire oven full to save energy and I guarantee you’ll always want more!
All you need to do it is cut the tomatoes in half, lay skin side down on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper (the parchment helps get them up later). If you want to, drizzle with olive oil and some freshly chopped herbs and sprinkle with salt and pepper, or simply roast as is, it’s up to you, I do both. Roast in a 225 degree oven for 4-8 hours or until reduced in size and slightly moist, cooking time depends on size of tomatoes and your oven. You can try raising oven temp to 250, but you may get some dark spots on the tomatoes, it depends on your oven. I like to put mine in the oven before I go to bed and set the timer for 6 hours. The next morning I check the tomatoes, remove any that are finished and continue roasting any tomatoes that aren’t quite done. You can taste one after 3-4 hours and you’ll be able to tell if it’s done or not. It should taste like concentrated tomato with a slightly sweet tang. If it’s still acidic and sour, roast for a while longer.
These will need to be frozen to preserve them. I usually freeze on the cookie sheets, then store in a large bag. That way can I get one or twenty depending on what I’m making. I like to use slow-roasted tomatoes in my homemade ketchup, I find it adds a wonderful rich flavor and reduces the cooking time. I don’t roast them quite as long as when I do this since it’s much easier to extract the peels and seeds when they’re not quite as dry.
Have you ever slow roasted tomatoes?
